5 tips for better content marketing

Good content has become the cornerstone of a strong marketing strategy for the vast majority of online businesses. While it may seem simple enough to put together copy that works well, the process is actually far from simple. Rather than just focusing on one type of content, you need to be flexible with regards to what you produce and be prepared to adapt depending on the feedback you receive.

Here are five tips for content to ensure that you get content marketing right first time.

1.Generate the ideas

This largely involves research, and plenty of it. While it’s quite unlikely that you’ll come up with completely original content, the way in which you present it can make a world of difference. Whether this is by telling a story, showing data, or producing something visually appealing is down to what works best for you.
Start your research by looking at what your competitors are doing and gauge how successful they really are. Using online tools is a great way to select a handful of topics that are popular in a particular industry and see what is trending or consistently performs well.

2.Value of an idea

Do we have a story? Is the data interesting? Can we make it look appealing? These are the questions you will want to be asking at this stage. Invite feedback from your team and start to get a feel for what will and won’t work for your audience.
A good place to start with the value of an idea is to assess its simplicity. Anything too complicated will alienate more people than it engages, regardless as to whether you personally find it interesting.

3.Create the content

Everybody will have a preferred process here, and it will vary depending on the type of content that you are creating. Consider design if you’re producing an infographic, and constantly ask yourself if you are presenting data in the most effective way.
Also consider mobile compatibility; vast numbers of media consumers solely access the internet through mobile devices and the look and feel of your content on their handset or tablet will contribute to its success.

4.Put it out there

Get your content seen; promote! You shouldn’t spend so much time on producing your content that you leave little time for promotion. Consider how you want to market your finished piece; does it translate well to sharing on social media platforms?
Is it something that directly appeals to people you already reach in an email list? If your content is interesting enough you can also approach PR outlets for inclusion in more populated national publications. This is a great way to get your content seen by a mainstream audience.

5.Tracking and feedback

Learning from the success or failure of your content is key to adapting your strategy for future projects. What do you consider a success? People liking an article? Sharing it? Clicking through to another page? Once you know what you want to happen as a result of your content, you can more effectively analyse the data you mine from it.
While there is no sure-fire way to guarantee viral success, these tips for content curation are a good starting point.